Caster Semenya loses her appeal

"The CAS has dismissed both requests for arbitration. Caster Semenya and ASA requested that the DSD regulations be declared invalid and void with immediate effect."

The verdict in the Caster Semenya saga is finally in and Caster Semenya has lost her landmark case. Photo: Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP

Caster Semenya has lost her appeal against the IAAF’s proposed female eligibility rules. the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced on Wednesday morning.

The landmark case was heard before the CAS during a five-day hearing in Lausanne in February.

“The CAS has dismissed both requests for arbitration. Caster Semenya and ASA requested that the DSD regulations be declared invalid and void with immediate effect,” the CAS said in a statement.

“By majority, the CAS panel has dismissed the requests for arbitration considering that the claimants were unable to establish that the DSD regulations were “invalid”.

“The panel found that the DSD regulations are discriminatory but the majority of the panel found that, on the basis of the evidence submitted by the parties, such discrimination is a necessary, reasonable and proportionate means of achieving the IAAF’s aim of preserving the integrity of female athletics in the restricted events.”

The regulations would require women with naturally elevated levels of testosterone to lower it to below five nanomoles for at least six months.

The rules targeted female athletes competing in the distances between 400 metres and the mile which are the events Semenya excels in on the global stage.

It effectively means Semenya would not be able to compete in these events unless she lowers her testosterone to the required levels.

Semenya and her legal team, Norton Rose Fulbright, said they were fighting for the rights of athletes with differences in sexual development (DSDs) to compete.

Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi, who finished second behind Semenya in the 800m finals at the Rio Olympic Games and 2017 world championships, recently admitted she had hyperandrogenism.In a statement the Court of Arbitration said the IAAF contended that the DSD Regulations do not infringe any athlete’s rights, including the right to equal treatment, but instead are a justified and proportionate means of ensuring consistent treatment, and preserving fair and meaningful competition within the female classification. There is no dispute that there should be a separate classification for female athletes – a binary divide between male and female.